Agatha Christie
Somebody mentioned Agatha Christie (was it you, nerd?) and caught me in a productive day:
Agatha Christie was not yet a published author when her husband (a British aviator) was killed in the waning days of the Great War. When she received the news, she was faced with the choice of falling back on the protection of her family or venturing out on her own. Having a sizeable stock of unpublished short fiction at her disposal, Christie tried her luck in the publishing world and found success. Short fiction was just about the only marketable product in the dark days at the close of the war, and there was something appealing to people about a search for meaning in the presence of death.
Seeking a change of setting given the depressing mood of the country, Christie left Britain in 1920, shortly after her first novel was published. She traveled briefly through Europe before making her way to Egypt, the Middle East, and eventually South Africa.
Arriving in the country soon after the signing of the Treaty of Luanda, Christie decided to settle there, purchasing a country retreat by the ocean, not far from Durban. It was here that Christie found what would be (after writing) her life’s passion: surfing.
The local beach culture was an interesting mix of disaffected Great War veterans, young, rebellious whites, and black Africans eager to escape a life of tribal structure. They shared and developed new and intriguing music, dances, and even language; but the thing that brought them together more than anything else was the longboard.
It seems odd that a (to all outward appearances) staid 30-something middle class British woman would find herself joining this world. But Christie took to the sport like a duck to water after only one lesson. She was taught to surf by Eric O’Neil, one of the Australian expatriates who first brought surfing to South Africa after the war. Christie and O’Neil would be married in early 1924.
Following the split in the Union (during which she served as a Red Cross nurse,) Christie and O’Neil (and most of the rest of the community) elected to stay in the new coloured state. Christie continued to publish mystery stories (including more and more with nautical and surfing themes) while she and O’Neil began to refine the art of surfing and even started to put their permanent mark on it. Indeed, several surfing techniques were pioneered and named by the pair, including the Five Little Pigs, the Endless Night, and the Orient Express.
The late 1920s and early 30s saw isolated surfing communities dotting the African coasts, with large concentrations in South Africa, former German Southeast Africa, and Madagascar.
By 1934, Christie and O’Neil were viewed as something like elder statesmen of the surfing culture, and the only celebrity link it had to the outside world. In this year, they embarked on a tour of world surfing communities, traveling to Madagascar, Ceylon, and the many beaches of Australia. They were struck by the universal welcoming nature of the communities and other shared similarities, despite the lack of firm communication between them.
The couple intends to continue their trip on to Hawaii, the spiritual homeland of the sport. Christie already has plans in the works to begin a regular surfing publication to promote not just the sport, but the accepting culture surrounding the surfing communities. O’Neil is focused on organizing the world’s first international surfing competition.